Hijackably, that reminds me of Christopher Walken saying that he learned to dance because all the mothers in his neighborhood sent their kids (boys and girls) to dance school, and adding that most of his childhood friends grew up to be cops, so there must at one time have been a number of NYC cops who could hoof it.

This makes me very happy. Next we will see "Law and Order: Dance Squad"

I took the words "knowing the plate number" as in that they knew the stolen plate numbers and that the cops later got lucky and when they ran the plates they came up flagged as possibly linked to the crime. I wasn't thinking about a second switch which would complicate things unless the perps got pulled over and the cop found mismatched plates with the car, they would get more suspicious.

It wasn't looking for specific plates per se it was the fact that someone has plates from another car entirely that would help things out.

It wouldn't help obviously though if the second swapping was back to the correct plates though.

Also when they run the plates, they can tell what the make and model and color it is supposed to be.

Most states registration do not have the color attached. And procedure may vary differently in different places, but as a standard procedure we don't run the plate prior to stopping the car. The plate is given when the stop is called to dispatch and they run the plate, but it is very likely that I will already be talking to the driver by the time the plate is actually ran by the dispatcher, and if there was a stolen plate which had not yet been reported it would not likely raise any flags with the dispatcher that she needs to give me back the information.

Really? That surprises me. I would think that states would want to have as much information about a car as they could. Color just makes sense. Of course the color can be changed but how often does that happen for most people?

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And procedure may vary differently in different places, but as a standard procedure we don't run the plate prior to stopping the car.

That surprises me too. I imagine a worse case where someone has a stolen car (that is reported as such) and gets antsy with the cop and try to harm him on approach. I would figure that that they would run it just in case so they can get alerted. Of course I don't know how easy it is to run them down.

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and if there was a stolen plate which had not yet been reported it would not likely raise any flags with the dispatcher that she needs to give me back the information.

Well obviously if it wasn't yet reported no flags would be raised, my theory was based on the idea that it was reported in the first place.

The OP des make more sense given all of that then - however I guess it's only useful so long as the print does remain and the cops find the car later and can successfully match it with one that they are looking for later. If a criminal knows the authorities are after him they are going to do whatever they can to make sure their car won't get found and raise said red flags if they know what is good for them.

If the plates are no longer on the car, they're not going to be very helpful in finding that car.

Sometimes it's not just about finding the car, but about finding the driver. For example, the driver could kill the cop and drive away. If the cop recorded the (stolen) plate beforehand, there is extra evidence that could help solve the crime. The plate could be found with the driver's fingerprint on it.

I imagine a worse case where someone has a stolen car (that is reported as such) and gets antsy with the cop and try to harm him on approach.

Being in a stolen vehicle is only one of many reasons someone my try and harm me when I stop a car. I approach every car assuming and prepared that someone in the car is going to try and harm or kill me.

Hubby's cousin is a state trooper, and he told me if I am ever pulled over to leave my hands on the wheel where they can easily be seen until the officer is at the window, and then when they ask for license etc, tell them, "My license is in my wallet, and the insurance and registration are in the glove box." Then when they acknowledge that, then get out the documents. I've been pulled over twice, and did this both times, and both officers seemed happy I did that. I don't know if it's universal, but that goes over well here in NJ.